


Lebensabschnittpartner

by NOT_TOWA_WAKASA



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Genre: F/F, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-14
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2019-10-28 07:29:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17783174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NOT_TOWA_WAKASA/pseuds/NOT_TOWA_WAKASA
Summary: Or, ‘the person I am with today.’





	Lebensabschnittpartner

Faint steam rises from Kyouko’s skillet to greet her face, tickling her cheeks with feathery heat. The smell it carries with it is encouraging, and she continues to carefully stir the mix of rice, chicken and onion over the stove. Years of practice in making meals for herself as a burgeoning self-sufficient child planted the steps deep in Kyouko’s mind, but it was in her nature to be mindful.

Though she’s not so focused as to not have noticed the sound of the shower running at one point stop, Kyouko is caught off guard by a pair of arms wrapping around her waist.

Somehow, Sayaka’s smile could be heard through her voice. “Hmm… that smells good, Kyouko-chan.”

“A-ah,” Kyouko breaths. She doesn’t look away from the stove, but she rests her utensils against the counter. “It’s omurice.”

Sayaka’s still-damp hair brushes against Kyouko’s cheek as she rests her head on her shoulder. “You didn’t tell me you’d be making dinner when you asked if I had tonight free,” Sayaka says, close enough to Kyouko’s ear that it sends a faint shiver down her spine. “I was going to just order out, you know.”

For a world-class detective and a singer in the top idol group in Japan, even something as simple as a night alone together had a hard time coalescing. Getting their schedules to line up is always a nightmare. Given that circumstance, it made sense that Kyouko would want to make the most of it, even if ‘the most of it’ was a simple meal. In contrast to everything that went on in both of their lives, simple was nice.

“It’s nothing,” she says, shaking her head. “I was hungry, and I assumed you would be as well.”

The giggle that follows makes Kyouko’s cheeks flush. “I don’t think it’s nothing. Thank you.”

A soft peck planted on Kyouko’s cheek makes her turn her head. She finds Sayaka’s innocent smile, with her long hair tucked behind her ears and her face bare of makeup. The lounge clothes she wears makes Kyouko feel somewhat overdressed.

Meeting Sayaka’s eyes, Kyouko feels a slight tremor in her chest. She hums. “… You’re welcome, then,” Kyouko says, before bowing her head towards Sayaka. A cheeky smile flashes across Sayaka’s lips before she and Kyouko connect. The kiss is soft, and brief, but fills Kyouko with a warm, buzzing energy that lingers long after the moment passes.

Kyouko continues with making dinner, Sayaka chatting with her from the small kitchen’s table as she does so. The rice and chicken is molded into two lumps, and with eggs beat and strained, Kyouko prepares two fluffy omelets to fold over top. A reflective streak of demi-glace is poured from one to the other.

A minute later, and after some courtesies and table-setting, the side of Sayaka’s fork clicks against her plate as she cuts away a small piece of egg and rice. “I feel like… they - and none of them have said this, but - they’re tired, or they’re starting to get there,” she says, talking aimlessly about her group. She pops the forkful into her mouth. “Oh, this is really good, Kyouko-chan.”

Kyouko, pretending that she wasn’t waiting for Sayaka to give her verdict, starts on her own omurice. “I’d expect that to be the case. I can only imagine how involved idol-work is.”

“Don’t get me wrong, we’re used to it,” Sayaka adds. “It was harder when we first started. Once we got into the groove of everything, it became normal to us. Even when it was hard, or stressful.” She cuts away another piece. “But now that it’s been so long…”

“Burnout?” Kyouko offers.

“… No, I don’t think it’s that.”

“Burnout is normal,” Kyouko points out.

Sayaka props her head on her hand. The small smile she shows Kyouko communicates little. After a moment, she says: “What about you, Kyouko-chan? Does being a super-detective ever tire you out?”

Kyouko tucks some hair behind her ear. “No.”

Sayaka giggles. “Wow! You’re so tough!”

Kyouko feels her lips quirk upward. “It can be tiring, yes. There’s a lot of travel, and the process of making things come together can take quite long. But some cases are easier than others, and I have some control over my schedule. More than I imagine —”

“Maybe,” Sayaka finishes for her, smiling. “I think -” she continues before stopping, mouth hanging open. After rearranging her sentence, she starts again. “Routine makes things easier. Things like… stress, someone making a mistake, boredom… become more manageable when you’re in that head-space. When that’s your normal.”

Kyouko watches quietly as Sayaka gathers stray bits of rice into a pile on her plate.

“But everything changes eventually, right? Some day, it’s not going to be your normal anymore. And you won’t really be able to do all those things you were doing at that time, at least not as well or for as long. A mistake will be a bigger deal, and if you get bored, you’re more likely to drop it. I just wonder, if… when that time comes, what it’ll be that makes things different.”

Several things pop into Kyouko’s mind - not responses, but paths of inquiry. Even here, it’s hard to shake that mindset.

“You’ve been quite introspective lately,” Kyouko comments dumbly.

Sayaka laughs. “Oh, I’ve been rambling, haven’t I?”

“That’s, ah, not what I meant…”

Again, Sayaka laughs, bubbly and sweet, and like water into vapor, that line of thought fizzles out. They finish up with dinner before Kyouko takes her turn in Sayaka’s shower. Afterwords, Sayaka puts on a movie of her choice - a horror film - and holds tightly to Kyouko as they watch, though turning it off three-quarters of the way through as they both realize they’re bored with it.

Later that night, after a half-hearted game of chess overshadowed by a greater, rambling conversation about nothing, Kyouko twists ‘off’ the lamp sitting on Sayaka’s nightstand and, in the dark, slips off her leather gloves. Her arms wrap around Sayaka’s stomach and they meld together, back against stomach and knee behind knee. Sayaka’s hands drifts over Kyouko’s, and though she feels the weight of her fingers more so than their softness or warmth, Kyouko feels in Sayaka’s presence something she’s felt with no other person in her life.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written for the 2019 danganropna valentines' fic exchange


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